Collegians more and more like pros

My confidence in college football has been shaken. I was stunned to see state troopers trying to separate 200 brawling Clemson and South Carolina football players last weekend. Of course, this is not the first time a brawl occurred at a college football game, but it has been a few years since we've had one like this.

But the fact the South Carolina-Clemson fight followed the Pistons-Pacers fight brought the collegiate-professional dichotomy into focus.

I was struck by the realization that fans and media no longer see a difference between professional and college players. Somehow, the notion of student-athletes fighting didn't seem so out of character since, as one Clemson player put it, the Pistons-Pacers fight "was worse" since the basketball players fought with fans. The distinctive line between those two worlds has become blurred.